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Puppy In Training TV – Ep15 – Guide Dogs Of America Open House

October 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Guide Dogs of America Open House is held every June in Sylmar, California.  This year Dublin, my guide dog puppy in training and I attended the event.

There’s a ton of stuff going on at the GDA open house.  Puppies in training have the opportunity to participate in the puppy trials (we arrived too late and I didn’t  get a chance to take Dublin through the trials this year).

There’s also a silent auction with tons of goodies for dogs, cats, other pets, and tons of cool stuff for us humans as well.  There’s several booths with…you guessed it tons of doggy stuff for sale.

GDA Open House
Dublin Lovin’ it!

Guide Dogs of America also does a guide dog training demo.  There are tours of the campus and also tons of other goodies are given away in the GDA raffle.

I’m sure I’m missing other cool things that happen on this awesome day.

We were able to put together our most recent puppy training video starring Dublin in Episode 15 – Guide Dogs of America Open House.  Check it out:

Episode 15 – Guide Dogs of America Open House

Here’s this weeks episode of Puppy In Training TV.  If you’d like to sponsor an episode take a look at the Puppy In Training TV Sponsorship page.

Guide Dogs Of America Open House Transcription

PuppyInTraining.com Logo and Website Address

We recently made our way back to Sylmar for the Guide Dogs of America Open House. That’s Dublin standing at the gates of GDA and I’m Colby welcome to episode 15 of Puppy In Training TV

Guide Dog Puppy Training Starring DUBLIN
With Linus Aussie Shepherd Rescue
Also Colby The Human
And Stetson Career Changed Guide Dog

We’re back at GDA campus and that’s Dublin hopping up on stage. We’ll see him there again later. Do you remember the last time Dublin and I posed out in front of the Guide Dogs of America sign? If you guessed back during episode 1 puppy pickup day then you’d be correct.

When we arrived at GDA we walked down that very same hill from episode 1 towards the Silent Auction As we mosied on down we saw this pup working on his “Get Busy” command You might also notice his handler petting him while he potty’s. Puppy raisers pet their pups when they potty. Why you might ask? Because when they become formal guides this helps their vision impaired handler determine if their pup is going #1 or #2.

Ahhh…the GDA Silent Auction. There’s always great stuff here. Tons of stuff for dogs, but that’s not all their are usually gift baskets for just about anybody from Laker fans, to cat lovers, to wine tastings, to restaurant and golf outings, and of course you can find something for your puppy…including a little bit of attention from a fellow puppy raiser

This years theme was june in bloom and some of the pups got quite festive

Open house is a great time to see future guide pups in training!

Every year at open house Guide Dogs of America sets up a beautiful stage to match the years theme…perfect photo op. Here’s a short clip of Dublin posing with his two siblings Daisy and Denali. Can you tell which one is Dublin?

Our puppies are given a chance to show off their obedience skills and tolerance to distractions at the puppy trials. Unfortunately we showed up late and missed the puppy trials, but still got to see that llama dublin was just staring at, a horse. We even got dublin up close and personal with a few chickens.

While we were hanging out by the chickens Dublin was a good boy and remained in a down-stay while he received a few pets

This little guy was all tuckered out after a long day at GDA open house.

As we were walking out Dublin told me he could work as a guide just like the other pups working in the lobby so I told him to show me a sit stay…pretty good Dublin, but I think you have to be a little more still to take one of their jobs.

After a long day at the Guide Dogs of America open house Dublin relaxed for the car ride home. thanks for joining us and we’ll see you next time!

Our Final Thoughts On Guide Dogs of America Open House

We love attending the Guide Dogs of America Open House every year.  Although we did not get an opportunity to go through the puppy trials we did see all the items at the silent auction (unfortunately, no bidding for us this year).  We also got to work on Dublin’s guide dog puppy training by seeing unusual distractions like the llama’s, horses, and chickens.  We also got to work on his meet and greets which in general is an area we need to work on.  However, today he was absolutely awesome with his meet and greets.  Dublin surprises me again!

Dublin was much improved from his day at the Universal City Walk.  I’m hoping his behavior on the train, tram, and bus during our visit to the city walk was an anomaly.

I’m glad you were able to join our puppy in training tv blog post.  If you have any questions or suggestions for an episode please leave us a comment in the comment section below.  Oh yeah…after you watched the video do you know which puppy was Dublin on the stage?

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Formal Guide Dog Training

October 9, 2011 By 5 Comments

Dear Colby,

Well, the time is here, the day you’ve been anticipating since you picked up Dublin all those months ago.  It is now time for Dublin to come in for his formal guide dog training.

We know this is a hard time for you and we would like to try to make it a little easier by inviting you to a Luncheon on October, 29, 2011 at 12:00 noon.

This is just a fun day for you and the other puppy raisers for moral support and to say good-bye to your puppy until Graduation Day.  After we are done eating, talking and playing, we will walk the dogs down to the kennel where you will be able to put them in their runs.

Please give us a call to let us know that you will be attending and how many of you in your group.  If you cannot make it or prefer to bring Dublin in on a different day, please give us a call to let us know when you will be bringing him in.

While he is here, please feel free to call at any time and we will let you know how Dublin is doing in his training.

Enclosed you will find questionnaires to be filled out and brought to the luncheon, along with his Veterinary Medical Records and jacket.  If you would like to bring a toy to share with the others, please do so.  (Hard rubber toys, Kongs, hard bones would be great!)

Again, thank you for all the love, support and a job well done!  If you are thinking about a new puppy, please give me a call — we have PLENTY coming up.

Sincerely,

Guide Dogs of America

Dublin is Going In For Formal Guide Dog Training

So there’s the official letter from Guide Dogs of America we just received.  It’s hard to believe that my little puppy is already going into formal guide dog training.  It seems like not that long ago we were picking him up and putting together his first Puppy In Training TV video.

We still have a few weeks left with Dublin and plan on shooting several more videos and posting several new episodes of Puppy In Training TV during that time.  So stay tuned as we work furiously to get those last few episodes up to YouTube and the website.

As guide dog puppy raisers we always here the question: how do you do it?  meaning how to you let your puppy go?  I have to say it’s very difficult, but at the same time very exciting to see the puppy you raised move on to help someone achieve independence.  While I’m sad to see Dublin leave I’m happy that he will be doing something special for someone else.

Have you turned in a puppy in training to formal training?  If so, tell us about your experience.

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Orange County Transportation Authority Service Animal Training

September 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of our favorite guide dog puppy training events of the year is the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Service Animal Training.  Dublin and I had the opportunity to attend this wonderful event last year and lucky for us Dublin gets a second chance to enjoy this awesome event.

If you are training a service animal and live in the southern California area we highly recommend that you try and make it out to the Fullerton Park and Ride this Saturday, October 1st, 2011 from 8am-12pm.  OCTA does a great job allowing you and your puppy in training to work on riding the bus and getting on an off using both the steps and the ramp.

Not only does OCTA provide bus training for service dogs in training, but they also give you a courtesy pass into Knott’s Berry Farm where your puppy gets the opportunity to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of a major amusement park.

OCTA Bus Training And Knott’s Berry Farm

Some of our favorite parts about OCTA Bus Training are:

  • You get to experience riding the bus with your puppy in training
  • You get dropped off right outside Knott’s Berry Farm where there are a ton of live chickens hanging around…another great experience for your pup
  • You get a courtesy pass into Knott’s Berry Farm
  • Applications for OCTA Bus Mobility Trainer are available. This No-Fare Identification card allows a Trainer/Handler to ride the OCTA fixed-route system free of charge with a Service Animal

Just in case you missed last years episode of Puppy In Training TV.  Here is Dublin’s puppy training video from our OCTA Service Animal Training experience:

OCTA Service Animal Training Details

Here’s the letter received from the Orange County Transportation Authority on this years Service Animal Training.  Of course we  had to include an image of Dublin at last years training.  During training they allow you to walk on and off the bus using the regular stairs and as seen in this picture the bus operator also extended the ramp for us to walk across.  Hope to see you all at the Fullerton Park n Ride!

Orange County Transportation Authority

OCTA Service Animal Training

Dublin at OCTA Service Animal Training

Service Animal Training Day
Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2011 8:00am-12:00pm

All Service Animal Trainers/Handlers:

You are cordially invited to OCTA’s annual Service Animal Training day with your Service Animals in training! This is an opportunity to add the experience of riding an OCTA transit bus, including the sights and sounds of beautiful downtown Buena Park and Knott’s Berry Farm into your training program!

Training Day: October 1st, 8:00am to 12:00pm at:

Fullerton Park and Ride (Stalls 1 & 2)
3000 West Orangethorpe
Fullerton, CA 92833

Check-In: Beginning at 7:30am, sign-in and pick-up your Knott’s Berry Farm courtesy entrance bracelet (Good only for AM entry and shopping – No Rides). Then, enjoy unlimited practice boarding, riding, and alighting an OCTA transit bus along a designated training route. Departure shall be every 20-minutes with training stops along the way.

Training Route Schedule

Bus A Departs at: 8:00am, 9:00am, 10:00am, 11:00am & 12:00pm*
Bus B Departs at: 8:20am, 9:20am, 10:20am, 11:20am
Bus C Departs at: 8:40am, 9:40am, 10:40am, 11:40am
*Note: The last bus at 12:00pm will be “pick-up” only – No Stops!

Training Route via FP&R: (R) Orangethorpe, (R) Magnolia, (R) La Palma,
(L) Dale, (R) Lincoln, (R) Beach, (R) La Palma, (L) Magnolia, (L) Into FP&R.

Check-Out: It is very important that you sign-out, as we account for each rider returning safely!

For agencies within Orange County, applications for OCTA Bus Mobility Trainer will be available. This No-Fare Identification card allows a Trainer/Handler to ride the OCTA fixed-route system free of charge with a Service Animal.

Do you plan on going to OCTA Service Animal Training this year?  Have you gone in the past?  We’d love to here your experiences.  Hopefully we see there this year!

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National Guide Dog Month

September 23, 2011 By 3 Comments

I know I’m a little late it already being towards the end of September, but this month (September) is National Guide Dog Month.  So what exactly is national guide dog month?  According to wikipedia:

“National Guide Dog Month is a celebration of the work of Guide Dogs in the United States as a way to raise awareness, appreciation and support for guide dog schools across the United States. It was established in 2008 as a fundraising drive to benefit non-profit guide dog organizations accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF).”

National Guide Dog Month

Guide Dog Puppy

Dublin A Puppy In Training

As many of you long time readers know we’ve been raising guide dog puppies for the past 5 years and we’ve also been doing our best to raise awareness for guide dogs as well as share our journey as puppy raisers.  Our goal with our blog is not only to raise awareness and support for guide dogs and puppy raisers, but to also share our experiences and try and help our readers learn more about how to train a puppy.

So why all of a sudden are we adding a post about National Guide Dog Month?  Well, it all starts with my trip to Petco…

Petco Supports Guide Dogs

A couple days ago we visited our local Petco to pickup some dog food and poop bags for the boys (Linus, Stetson, and Dublin).  We were at the cashier making our purchase when our the Petco employee asked if we’d like to round our purchase up to the nearest dollar as a donation to guide dog organizations.  Wow!  I thought that was pretty cool and when I got home I put a little research into Petco’s support of Guide Dogs.  I also tweeted our experience and wrote a short status update on our facebook account.

Here’s some interesting information from the Petco website:

Petco and Natural Balance have teamed up with CSI:Miami’s Eva La Rue and Omar Miller to support Guide Dog organizations.

Did you know that there are 1.3 million blind people in the USA? Every 7 minutes someone in America becomes visually impaired.

Guide Dogs improve the lives of the visually impaired by creating opportunities for life-changing independence and through community outreach and education programs. Guide Dogs provide safe mobility, loving companionship and the “miracle of independence” to the visually impaired.

Unfortunately, the guide dog organization we volunteer for, Guide Dogs of America is not on the list of schools receiving donations this year.  However, we do appreciate the support Petco is putting forth to help Guide Dog organizations.  Thanks Petco!

What are you doing for National Guide Dog Month? Have you visited your local Petco this month?  Did they ask you for a donation for guide dog organizations?

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Puppy In Training TV – Ep9 – Scavenger Hunt at Fashion Island

April 1, 2011 By 3 Comments

We raise puppies for Guide Dogs of America and Dublin and I both attend our monthly meeting at Orange County group in Anaheim Hills, CA.  As a group we plan one organized outing to help our puppy raisers work on their guide dog puppy training, visit places, and do things they might not normally do on their own.

We recently had the opportunity to go on a Scavenger Hunt with our OCGDA group at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.  Ten Guide Dog Puppies In Training participated in this years Scavenger Hunt including Dublin’s sister Denali.

We all arrived at Fashion Island around 10am and split up into two teams.  Each team was given a set of clues and had to solve each clue by visiting different stores in the mall, having dogs perform basic obedience and socialization, and maneuvering through different areas of the mall (walking up and down stairs, riding the elevator, and visiting the koi pond).

Puppy In Training TV – Ep9 – Scavenger Hunt at Fashion Island

This weeks episode of Puppy In Training TV focuses on our Scavenger Hunt Outing.  By the way, are you following us on Facebook?  We already posted a bunch of pictures to Dublin’s Puppy In Training Facebook Page.  Don’t forget to “like” Dublin’s page.

Scavenger Hunt at Fashion Island – Transcription

As always here’s this weeks transcription of our video

PuppyInTraining.com Logo and Website Address

Hey Guys! Colby and Dublin here. We’re heading off the Fashion Island tomorrow for a Scavenger Hunt. Welcome to the latest episode of Puppy In Training TV!

Guide Dog Puppy Training Starring DUBLIN
With Linus Aussie Shepherd Rescue
Also Colby The Human
And Stetson Career Changed Guide Dog

As I mentioned we had a Scavenger Hunt at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. We had 10 guide dog puppies in training at the event and we split up into two teams. Each team received a set of clues and had to solve problems, perform tasks, and visit stores throughout the mall.

We were in charge of making the clues so our good friend Anne took Dublin through the Scavenger hunt while we played scorekeeper.

We did our best to ask each handler and their puppy to perform basic obedience and manuever through every day obstacles like walking up the stairs on a loose leash.

We also incorporated a “get busy” area with one of the clues

We were also lucky to have Dublin’s sister Denali join us!

Fashion Island has a great koi pond and some of the pups really wanted to swim with the fish.

All the pups had a chance to ride the elevator and also sit quietly at the bookstore.

There’s Dublin and Anne trying to figure out the next clue. And as you can see Anne is using the H204K9 water bottle and NEOSLING.

The fountains were pretty noisy and in this clip the pups had to lay in a down stay while their puppy raisers snapped a pic.

We were constantly on the move because the team to finish first got bonus points.

Here come Dublin and Baron. I think Dublin recognizes me he really wants to say hello.

And here’s team kelly over at Macys getting More practice on the elevator.

And getting another down stay in front of the bed at Macy’s.

Muttropolis had an adorable Kissing Booth and Kelly posed for a picture the puppies also did their best statue pose outside next to the Lab Statue…can you tell which pup isn’t real?

Here’s another pose with a smaller dalmation statue.

And this is a great shot of Team Yellow Dog in front of a vending cart. Can you spot Dublin in the pack?

There was a lot going on throughout the day as you saw in all the video clips. We finally had a chance to grab lunch and the pups were all exhausted and relaxed under the table. Team Kelly beat out team yellow dog by a hair…We got one final shot with Dublin in front of the big fountain and headed home.

Hey Guys!  Thanks for joining us for this episode of Puppy In Training TV.  Dublin had a great time today at the Scavenger Hunt.  He got to hand out with his sister Denali and he also got to work with a different puppy raiser today.  Once again, thanks for joining us and we’ll see you next time.

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If you’d like to sponsor an episode of Puppy In Training TV visit PuppyInTraining.com

Final thoughts on the OCGDA Scavenger Hunt 2011

We were observers today and not so much working with Dublin and his training.  Our good friend Anne had the opportunity to work with Dublin and it’s good for him to get used to training with a different puppy raiser.

We also enjoyed seeing Dublin’s sister Denali who is doing very well in her puppy training.

Overall we noticed most of the dogs doing great job as we watched all the puppy raisers work with their puppies to walk politely up the stairs, stay calm in the elevator, work on self control, lay quietly under the table during lunch, perform sit-stays and down-stays, work on loose leash walking, and meet and greet adults and children.

Thanks everyone for making it out to the OCGDA Scavenger Hunt 2011.  Here’s a list of the ten puppies in training that attended this outing: Baron, Jeanie, Varrick, Dublin, Kelly, Archer, Yuki, Denali, Wriley, and Chloe.

We try to get sponsorships for our Puppy In Training TV episodes.  If you’re interested in sponsoring our next episode visit our sponsors page at Puppy In Training TV.  If you have any questions leave us a comment in the comment section below.

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Puppy In Training TV – Ep6 – Los Caballeros Tennis And Puppy Training

February 19, 2011 By 1 Comment

It’s been a little while, but way back towards the end of 2010 a group of us puppy raisers visited the Los Caballeros Charity Tennis Tournament to help raise awareness about Guide Dogs of America and also collected a few donations from the tournament participants.

It was a great experience for our puppies as they had the opportunity to work on meet and greets, watch some great tennis matches, and visit some unfamiliar places like indoor basketball courts, weight rooms, open stairs, and viewing decks.

Episode 6 – Los Caballeros Tennis And Puppy Training

Here’s this weeks episode of Puppy In Training TV.  If you’d like to sponsor an episode take a look at the Puppy In Training TV Sponsorship page.

Los Caballeros Tennis And Puppy Training Transcript

Here is this weeks transcription.  I hope you enjoy!

Today we’re here at Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club.  We’re here for the Calcutta charity tennis tournament.  This is Dublin…I’m Colby, welcome to the latest episode of Puppy In Training TV.

(Titles Roll): Puppy In Training TV Starring Dublin.  With Linus Aussie Mix Rescue.  Also Colby The Human.  And Stetson Career Changed Guide Dog.  Episode 6 – Los Caballeros Tennis And Puppy Training.

Every year I play in a charity tennis tournament at the Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club and every year the tournament organizers make a donation to Guide Dogs of America.  The tournament also gives me a chance to introduce my guide dog puppies to a new environment that they would not see everyday.  In the past I brought Stetson, Derby, Palmer, and this year Dublin!

This year we setup a small booth for Guide Dogs of America and instead of just me and Dublin several puppy raisers and their guide dog puppy’s stopped by and helped raise awareness for GDA.

Walking up open stairs can be very difficult for some puppies plus the texture of the stairs are quite different then what our puppies normally encounter.  Dublin did a great job walking up the stairs to the tennis court viewing deck staying with me every step of the way.

Watching tennis from the viewing deck is not only a great view for the people, but for the dogs as well.  Dublin enjoyed watching the matches and he didn’t seem distracted by the tennis balls which is a major no-no for guide dog puppies in training.

After watching tennis for a bit from the deck we went back downstairs for some court side seats.  I made sure Dublin new that he had to be quiet during the points.

Los Caballeros has an olympic size swimming pool and a large noisy jacuzzi with a waterfall which we walked by several times.  We also checked out the indoor racquetball courts, but there was no one playing at the time.

Los Caballeros is a giant sports village which also includes a few different weight rooms including this one with treadmills and weight machines.

If you’ve been in and inside basketball court then you’ll know that the sounds and smells are much different then they are outside.  Los Cab has two full-sized indoor courts.  We took a seat for a little while so Dublin could watch some basketball players shoot some hoops.

The automatic doors at Los Cab are little bit different then they are at the grocery store.  Watch as Dublin does a great job waiting and not pulling me through the threshold.

At the end of the day Dublin was worn out and so was I.  He took a nap underneath the GDA table we also did pretty well with our donation jar.

Thanks for joining us for our latest episode of Puppy In Training TV.  If you have any questions just leave us a comment in the comment section below and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.  Thanks again and we’ll see you next time!

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A special thanks to Carri Baar and Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club for sponsoring this episode

If you’d like to sponsor an episode of Puppy In Training TV visit PuppyInTraining.com

Puppy Training And Los Caballeros Charity Tennis Final Thoughts

This was a great outing for Dublin.  He had the chance to see many different things that puppies don’t normally see on a day to day basis.  There were some loud noises in the gym and the crowds would cheer for the tennis players from time to time, but overall it wasn’t too stressful for most puppies.  Hopefully we’ll have the chance to visit the Los Caballeros Charity Calcutta again next year.

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Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation – Dublin

November 23, 2010 By 5 Comments

As many of you know Dublin recently went back to school in Sylmar for his six month Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation. We’ve been working hard on Dublin’s puppy training and socialization for the past 4 months and we were hoping our hard work would show up on his evaluation report. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I looked over Dublin’s eval. Here’s a look at most of the things listed on his report:

Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation

The first few things are basic:

Dog’s Name: Dublin
Breed: YLAB
Sex: Male
Intact: Yes
Proper Tags (3): Yes
Dog’s current age: 6 mos

Kennel Behavior:

  • In Run: Calm, Happy
  • Overall behavior: Well-behaved
  • Community Run: N/A

Basic Handling / Grooming: (ears, eyes, teeth, paws, tail): Excellent

  • Overall Appearance: Good

Relieving on leash: on command

Evaluation Walk in Unfamiliar Area:

  • Location: Valencia
  • Response to people: friendly-interested
  • Other dogs: interested-walks by
  • Animals (birds, squirrels, etc.): ignored birds
  • Loud sounds: not bothered
  • Traffic: not bothered
  • New Handler: very responsive – eager to please
  • Other (stairs, kids, sniffing, etc.): no pulling, loose lead, some concern with people  walking up behind him, recovered quickly

OB response:

  • Name: Very Good
  • Sit: Excellent
  • Stay: Excellent
  • Down: Excellent
  • Come: Excellent

General Handling:

  • Energy Level: medium
  • Response to correction: responds well – remembers
  • Behavior in establishments: polite, well-behaved
  • Overall stress: did not seem stressed today

Comments / Recommendations:

Dublin is a pleasure to walk.  He walks nicely on a loose leash and is very responsive to handler.  Dublin has excellent manners and a great obedience foundation.  Overall, Dublin was not bothered by any situation he encountered.  However, he did become concerned when approached from behind by a woman talking on a cell phone.  He startled and became distracted bu recovered quickly after she passed by.  Continue to expose Dublin to new experiences including crowds.

Keep up the Great Work!

Recommend Re-evaluation: 3 months

My Thoughts On Dublin’s Evaluation

Dublin does a lot of things very well and his puppy evaluation made me proud…I’m a happy parent :)   Here are a few things I though after reading this report:

I left a couple things out including Date, DOB, ID#, and Evaluator.  As I mentioned most of this stuff is very basic, but a few things to note are:  He is still intact – I guess that won’t change until his next evaluation so he gets to keep his man parts for a little while longer.  Proper Tags – He has his Microchip Tag, GDA Tag, and a Personal Tag with my information I have not yet received his Irvine City Registration tag, but should have that soon.

Although it was his first stay at the GDA kennels his behavior report does not surprise me.  He’s a happy go lucky dog and has always got along with other puppies from his group.  Also he’s always done very well with his crate training.

We’ve been working on basic handling with Dublin including petting, manipulating and dressing him in dog costumes since we first brought him home.   We even put together a puppy training video showing Dublin and some of the other puppies in training wearing their Halloween dog costumes and explaining the purpose behind puppy dress-ups.

The part of Dublin’s evaluation that did surprise me was his response to people and other dogs.  He generally ignores people unless they are coming up to say hello.  In that case he gets super excited for about 10-30 seconds and takes a little bit before he calms down.  Meet and greets with people is one area we’ve been working on nearly every day.  By the way, we had Baron for a few days and he is great with his meet and greets.  Also, if we get close to other dogs Dublin will pull and want to go play.  This is another area we’re working on.

Finally, Dublin is great with most of his Puppy obedience training.  However, the past couple weeks he has regressed with his Name and the “Come” command.  We’ve gone back to working with him on a long line to increase his responsiveness.

3 Months Till Dublin’s Next Puppy Eval

As I mentioned earlier there was no mention of…shhhh…neutering…so I assume Dublin gets to keep his man parts for another 3 months till his next puppy evaluation.  Until then we’ll keep working on Dublin’s puppy training.

I just looked back at  Stetson’s Puppy Evaluation and guess what?  One thing I noted was that he was really bad with his sniffing (not allowed for a guide dog).  What are we doing with Stetson today?  K9 Nose Work Training!!!

Are you raising a puppy for Guide Dogs of America?  If so, we’d love to hear about your Guide Dog puppy evaluation.  Are you a puppy raiser for another organization?  If so, I’d love to hear about your programs puppy evaluation process.

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Puppy Training Videos

August 4, 2010 By 2 Comments

That’s right!  We’re back to making Puppy Training videos starting with our new series called Puppy In Training TV!

If you’ve been following us for a while you probably remember that we added some puppy product reviews on our personal YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/ckmorita.  However, this time we’ve stepped it up a level and created a more branded channel at http://www.youtube.com/PuppyInTraining.

Puppy Training Videos

What can you expect from our channel?  Well for starters we plan on featuring regular episodes on our own show called Puppy In Training TV.  Our goal with Puppy In Training TV is to chronicle our latest Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Dublin’s journey to becoming a guide dog and hopefully teach some valuable lessons in puppy training along the way.  We also hope to generate donations to Guide Dogs of America by offering a Puppy In Training TV video sponsorship.  If you are interested in sponsoring a Puppy In Training TV episode by donating to GDA then please visit our Sponsorship Page our goal is to raise $5,000 for GDA while we raise Dublin.

Aside from Puppy In Training TV we don’t have any big plans for the our YouTube Channel.  A few other things you might expect to see are:

  • Puppy Product Review Videos
  • Puppy Training Tip Videos
  • Do-It-Yourself Puppy Product Videos
  • Dog Training Tips from Stetson and Linus
  • Dog Tricks from Stetson and Linus

Putting together Puppy Training Videos is a lot of work so please be patient with us.  We’ll do our best to get you videos on a consistent basis.

If you have a dog or puppy training video idea then please let us know your idea in the comments section below or get in touch with us through our contact form.

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Things To Remember When You Go To Pickup Your Puppy

August 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

So, the day to pickup your puppy has arrived and you’ve forgotten everything you learned.  We’re definitely guilty of forgetting a thing or two on puppy pickup days.  However, I like to keep a short list of Things To Remember When We Go To Pickup Our Puppy.

Things To Remember When You Go To Pickup Your Puppy

  1. Bring A Friend – life is much easier if you have a friend or family member to help you on puppy pickup day.  It shouldn’t be too hard to get someone to join you to pickup up an adorable fuzzy little puppy.  Plus this will help when you get to item #3.
  2. Bring A Kennel - if you brought a friend you may not need a kennel (we get a head start and let our puppy ride at our feet on the passenger side floor boards).  However, if you’re going solo like I did with Stetson then you definitely need a kennel during your drive home (you don’t want your puppy squirming and trying to jump up on your lap while you’re driving).
  3. Take Lots of Pictures/Video – it’s definitely a special day and you want to make sure you document as much as possible by having your friend take pictures and/or shoot video to capture the moment you’ll be happy you did.  Once again, if you’re going solo then bring along a camera and ask some of the other puppy raisers to take a few shots of you and your new pup.
  4. Bring Rags and Paper Towels – I’ve raised three puppies for Guide Dogs of America and two out of three have had accidents during the car ride.  Stetson had a pee accident during his kennel ride and Derby vomited on the passenger floor.  Lucky for us we lined the kennel and the passenger floor with old rags and cleaned up with paper towels.
  5. Bring Along A Stuffed Toy and/or Blanket - If you’re raising a puppy for Guide Dogs of America then you’ll most likely get a plush stuffed toy and a blanket in your bag.  However, every year we make sure to bring a stuffed toy of our own rub on our puppy’s litter mates.  This gets the scent of the litter and helps when it comes time for puppy’s first night home in his kennel.  We wrote a short article on getting the scent of the litter a couple years ago after we brought home Stetson.

One final tip for Guide Dogs of America puppy raisers:  Make sure you try and listen to every word Louise says right before you head down to the nursery.  She has some great points that will help you raise your puppy.  I know it’s difficult to listen it being so close to having your cuddly puppy in your hands, but it will definitely benefit you and your new Guide Dog Puppy In Training.

Have you guys been following us on Facebook or Twitter?  If not, check out our pages at http://www.facebook.com/PuppyInTraining and http://www.twitter.com/PuppyInTraining.  We’ve been adding short updates on our latest Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Dublin’s progress including “Status” Updates, Updated Picture Albums, and links to some of our other GDA friends.

One final thing to note: We also plan on putting together a YouTube Channel and keep a Guide Dog Puppy Training Video Journal starring Dublin.  We plan on getting our first episode posted this week so make sure to subscribe to our channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/PuppyInTraining.

Filed Under: Featured, Guide Dog Training Tagged With: , , , ,

Puppy In Training Has A Fanpage On Facebook!

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You heard it right!  We, PuppyInTraining.com have a fanpage on Facebook.  You can visit us at http://www.facebook.com/PuppyInTraining.

Hopefully the majority of you are already following us through our Puppy In Training Newsletter, RSS Feed, or just visit the blog once in a while.

Our Facebook Fanpage gives you yet another way to follow our adventures.  Also, because it’s more of a micro-blog I’ve been adding short posts (a sentence or two) notifying our followers about our day to day events.  I do my best to post any of our current puppy related news and views.  For instance, this past weekend we puppy sat a four month old Golden Retriever Guide Dog Puppy In Training named Reggie and posted a few pictures of her to the Fanpage.

Our Facebook Fanpage is a great way to follow our journey “in between blog posts.”

Here are a sample of a few of our short Facebook posts:

“Meet the newest member of our Orange County Guide Dogs of America group: “Yuki” a female black Labrador Retriever.” - check out the Fanpage for images.

“I’m puppy sitting Reggie a Golden Retriever Guide Dog Puppy and we had a tough day at work today. Me slaving away at the computer and Reggie taking naps and chewing on her bone.” - check out the Fanpage for images.

“I got the Amazing Treat Machine and I’m trying it as Stetson’s next dog bowl. I just have to teach him to drop the ball in the box. It shouldn’t be difficult he’ll do anything for food.” – check out the Fanpage for the link.

If you enjoy receiving short updates like these in your Facebook Feed then I encourage you to visit our Fanpage and click the “Like” button.

I can see some of these short snippets ending up as full blown blog posts.  However, right now it’s a great way for us to get you our short thoughts, news, views, and pictures easily through the power of the Facebook Newsfeed.

Visit the Puppy In Training Facebook Fanpage and click the “Like” button to start receiving our news feed immediately.

Filed Under: Puppy Training Tagged With: , , , ,
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